Judge rejects Duterte push for critic’s arrest

MANILA: A Philippine judge rejected on Monday an effort by President Rodrigo Duterte to arrest one of his fiercest critics, a decision hailed by opponents as a check on the leader and a victory for the rule of law.

The decision from a Manila court denied a government petition to take Senator Antonio Trillanes into custody on charges for which the lawmaker had already been granted amnesty. Trillanes has attacked the president’s deadly narcotics crackdown, but also accused Duterte of corruption and his son of involvement in drug dealing.

“We wish to thank Judge Andres Soriano who has single-handedly upheld justice and the rule of law in the country despite extreme pressure coming from the Duterte regime,” a beaming Trillanes told reporters.

The order for Trillanes’ arrest stems from the president voiding in September an amnesty granted eight years ago to the senator, an exnavy officer, for his role in two coup attempts in the mid-2000s.

Farmer ‘massacre’: Meanwhile, authorities said they have launched a probe into the mass slaying of nine farmers gunned down after taking over part of a sugar plantation to grow food for themselves.

The deadly attack has provoked outrage in the country, as well as criticism of Manila’s slow-moving programme to redistribute farmland to millions of sharecroppers — tenant farmers who give a part of each crop as rent — who remain mired in poverty.